The internet has changed the speed of which we're able to pick up ways of speaking for other places. The international nature of certain English means that I can learn phrases from far-flung parts of the world which I'd never come across before. And also just in terms of things like texting, that also affects how we interact. So there's always concerns about when new technologies come that it changes language. But because language is like a living thing, it changes all the time, then it's just another contribution to change.
Language is perhaps humanity's most astonishing accomplishment but one that remains poorly understood. On this episode of the podcast we were joined by Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, and Morten H. Christiansen, Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. Together in their latest book "The Language Game," they upend our traditional understanding of language, arguing that it's not based on a set of fixed rules, but on a constantly evolving series of flexible conventions. Our host for this episode was journalist Christine Ro.
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